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More Oregon Cities, Counties Declare Emergencies

As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in Oregon, more local cities and counties are declaring states of emergency.

Benton, Lane, Linn and Marion Counties all declared a state of emergency this week, as did the cities of Eugene and Springfield. Generally speaking the declarations allow municipalities to request state and federal aid, and allow changes to certain city or county functions for the duration of the emergency. In Benton County, the Board of Commissioners vote came just hours after the county opened a joint emergency operations center with the city of Corvallis for the very first time.

Brian Lee: “It’s really a monumental day for us, to really get this going," said Brian Lee, the emergency operations manager for Benton County. "We’ve been training for over a year, talking about it, focusing on it. And now we’re putting it into practice to help the community.”

In a nod to social distancing, the meeting of the Benton County Board of Commissioners included just a skeleton staff on site. Two of the three commissioners joined the meeting remotely.

Chris Lehman has been reporting on Oregon issues since 2006. He joined the KLCC news department in December 2018 and became News Director in March 2023. Chris was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. His public broadcasting career includes stops in Louisiana and Illinois. Chris has filed for national programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”
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